Can Gardening Help with Dementia? Research says yes.

Gardening can help with Dementia Care
Dementia patients are often treated with medication and maybe treatment in a nursing or care home. But a growing number of experts are saying that physical activity such as gardening and being outside could help with people with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease.
Annie Pollack is a landscape designed from Dementia Services Development Centre, Stirling University. She says there is a lot of evidence that outdoor activities can be beneficial to patients with these conditions. 
Whilst this doesn’t mean the person no longer requires care or medication, it can mean that the person is fitter, feels less stressed, feels wanted and maintains their skills.
Also, being out in the sun helps people to maintain their levels of vitamin D, which is vital for our health and wellbeing.
Tracey Jones
Tutor
www.acsedu.co.uk
ACS Distance Education offers a range of gardening, psychology and health and wellbeing courses. To find out more, see www.acsedu.com or email info@acsedu.co.uk

Donating Your Brain to Science and Art? These People Did.

Brain Donation – Helping us understand the human brain
Twelve older people have agreed to donate their brains to neuroscience when they die (five have already died). But they have also agree their right to anonymity to take part in a new exhibition that combines art and science.
The aim of the exhibition called “Mind Over Matter” is to increase our understanding of dementia. So the people involved have agreed to have their brains studied for physical signs of the disease. Even though they might not be displaying symptoms while they are alive.
The exhibition, in London, looks at the past lives of the twelve people involved and tries to demystify what happens in brain research. The exhibition is designed by artist Ania Dabrowska and Dr Bronwyn Parry from Queen Mary, University of London.

 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY ONLINE COURSE

Until the late 1800’s, scientists did not know if the nervous system was made up vast networks of connected nerve cells, or whether the cells were separate. We now know that they are, and that they carry out their enormous task of keeping the body alive and functioning, and our minds working, by means of chains of action. The human brain is estimated to have around 100 billion nerve cells working to help create apparently seamless and integrated action, thought, and body function. To understand how they interact, we must learn about their individual structure and behaviours.

Develop your understanding of the way a person’s psychology is affected by anatomical and physiological characteristics of that person’s neurological system.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Foundations of Neuropsychology
2. Neurophysiology
3. Neuroanatomy
4. Laterality and Callosal Syndromes
5. Cognition, personality and emotion
6. Perception Disorders
7. Motor Disorders
8. Language
9. Dementia
10. Neurodevelopment

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Find out more about the course at - http://www.acsedu.com/courses/neuropsychology-822.aspx

Interest in Pinterest

Social media goes visual. Well, it has been for a while obviously but we have only just discovered Pinterest and the addiction is almost instant. It's like a cross between twitter and facebook only entirely visual. You trawl through veritable libraries of images, pick out the good ones, "like" them, re-pin them on to your boards, follow people and get followers. It is a brilliant spot to get inspiration for anything from home and garden ideas to fashion, design, photography, travel destinations and even inspirational sayings.

We have of course been uploading images of our new e-books to the site to get the word out but have also created a few different "pin boards". We have inspirational images, funny ones and plants. I suspect this will eventually expand to suit all of the different subjects we teach.

It might sound a little naff at first, re-pinning images you like onto a virtual pin board, but it is so enjoyable that you feel like a teenager going through your favourite magazines. You are doing the cyber equivalent of flicking through all the best mags you can find, cutting out the pictures and showing them to your "friends", all for free.

If you want to check out our boards go to this link: http://ping.fm/AvJNH

STRESS MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE - HELP OTHERS WITH THEIR STRESS LEVELS

Certificate in Stress Management

With the global economic climate, the difficult work-life balance many of us experience and the stresses and strains of modern living, many of us are stressed. We might recognise we are stressed or that others are stressed, but not know how to deal with that.  This brand new Certificate in Stress Management offers you the opportunity to study stress management in your own home. You will be supported by highly qualified tutors, who are VERY experienced in supporting distance learning students.

·       Learn to help yourself and others who are experiencing stress.

·       Consider stress management as a new career or as a way to enhance your own career opportunities.

Another excellent new course from ACS Distance Education. 

Study stress management as a way to a new career or to improve your own stress.

Study three core modules –

Stress Management

Life Coaching

Personal Energy Management

Then choose from three of the following electives –

Anger Management

Counselling Skills I

Counselling Skills II

Health and Fitness I

Human Biology 1A

Human Nutrition and Food

Introduction to Psychology

Counselling Techniques

Grief Counselling

Human Nutrition II

Nutrition for Weight Control

Business Coaching

Human Nutrition III

Nutrition for Sports

Find out more about the individual modules making up this certificate and/or enrol at –

http://www.acsedu.com/courses/qualification-certificate-in-stress-management-1086.aspx

Forestry Funding - Are we helping poorer countries or not?

Are we helping poorer nations with their forestry or causing more problems?

The Community Forest Management (CFM) scheme has attract billions of pounds of funding to protected forested areas, but research has shown that schemes to protect the forest biodiversity and people in poorer nations is ineffective.

A study by Bangor University in Wales has shown that local people resented the implementation of protected areas, as they considered the land “theirs”, then it suddenly belongs to the government. The CFM programmes were developed as an alternative, which ensured that governments devolved some of the decision making to local communities. This looked like a more ethical way of carrying out this type of change to protect the areas. But the research has shown that there were inconsistencies in how the CFM schemes were monitored and evaluated. 

The researchers state that we do need more protection for the forests and the people around those forests.

Study Trees for Rehabilitation with ACS Distance Education. http://www.acsedu.com/courses/trees-for-rehabilitation-landcare-reafforestation-771.aspx

Trees For Rehabilitation (Landcare Reafforestation)

Course Code	BHT205
Fee Code	S2
Duration (approx)	100 hours
Qualification	Statement of Attainment

LEARN TO PLANT AND GROW TREES -Distance Education Course

REAFFORESTATION

Develop a practical understanding of how trees can be used to stabilize degrading soils and improve land quality, usefulness and property value. This course has great value for all sorts of land managers and developers, from farmers to managers of public land and nature reserves. Horticulturists, agriculturists, foresters, etc can all benefit from this.

Amongst one of the most significant reasons for land degradation is the practice of clearing trees from the land, predominantly to provide grazing for cattle and sheep and areas for cropping. Agriculture is an important primary industry, which is largely responsible for feeding world populations, and as a result, economic prosperity for many nations. It has taken the very real threat of reduced yields, and such things as reduction in water quality, to provide the impetus for major land rehabilitation initiatives. Trees are seen as an integral part of a healthy environment, and it is for that reason that tree planting operations (to rehabilitate degraded land as well as prevent further damage) are being actively encouraged, by government, industry and community organisations.

Student Comment: 'I definitely learned a lot from [the course) but it was also beneficial in affirming [and raising my confidence] in what I already knew.' Katrina Merrifield, Masters Conservation Science, NZ, Trees for Rehabilitation course.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Understanding Plant Health
2. Soils and Ecology
3. Basic Seed Propagation Techniques
4. Nursery Management
5. Propagation of Eucalypts and Acacias
6. Plant Care During Establishment
7. Plant Establishment Methods
8. Dealing with Erosion
9. Dealing with Chemical Degradation (Salinity, pesticides, industrial waste, fertility decline, etc).
10. Dealing with Structural Problems (Waterlogging, organic content, etc).

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.